About this project
This collection contains transcripts of oral histories collected from living witnesses about pioneer life in Oklahoma in the early twentieth century. The project was funded by the WPA (Works Progress Administration project S-149) in 1937, in an effort to provide employment for persons on the relief rolls. A concerted effort was made to find individuals with "an intelligent conception of the work" and "a sense of historical values", but the collection was not compiled by experts. For this reason, the quality of the compiled material is diverse.

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Project Instructions
This collection contains transcripts of oral histories collected from living witnesses about pioneer life in Oklahoma in the early twentieth century. The project was funded by the WPA (Works Progress Administration project S-149) in 1937, in an effort to provide employment for persons on the relief rolls. A concerted effort was made to find individuals with "an intelligent conception of the work" and "a sense of historical values", but the collection was not compiled by experts. For this reason, the quality of the compiled material is diverse.

In addition to oral histories, this collection also contains transcripts made from headstones in old cemeteries.

We will be keying name, relationship, interview date, birth date and place, death date and place, age at death, burial place and cemetery name. Name and interview date are typically at the beginning of a transcript. Many transcripts have an additional "Biography Form" with detailed information about the person being interviewed.

Note: Relationship is being keyed to help identify family relationships. Indicators such as "My father" or "My daughter" will help identify which relationship to key. Please see field helps for Interview and Burial form types for additional information.

Interview Page

Choose the "Interview Page" form type for the first page of a transcript, or for images with "Biography Form" in bold all capital letters at the top. This will be the first page in a "packet".

Additional Image Samples

Given

Key the first name or initial and any middle names of the primary person as seen on the record using the dictionary provided for assistance. Initials should be keyed with a space between them and without entering periods. Prefixes (Mrs., Dr., etc) should not be keyed. Married women's maiden names do not go in this field.

The name of the person being interviewed may be found next to the words "Interview with", "Biography of", "Legend/Story by", "Name" or in the first or second paragraph of the interview.

Other names, including those of family members may be found in the body of the text. We are only keying the names of family members. Do not key the names of interviewers/field workers.

Surname

Key the surname as seen on the record using the dictionary provided for assistance. A married women's previous surname(s) goes here, in front of her current surnames. Suffixes (Sr., Jr., etc.) do not get keyed.

The name of the person being interviewed may be found next to the words "Interview with", "Biography of", "Legend/Story by", "Name" or in the first or second paragraph of the interview.

Other names, including those of family members may be found in the body of the text. We are only keying the names of family members. Do not key the names of interviewers/field workers.

Relationship

Key the relationship to the person being interviewed as seen on the record using the dictionary provided for assistance.

Relationship is being keyed to help identify family relationships. Indicators such as "My father", "My daughter", "I was married to" will help identify which relationship to key.

NOTE: Do not key a relationship for the person or persons being interviewed. Only key relationship for relations to the person being interviewed. Ex: Sean Cannon is being interviewed and will have NO relationship keyed. His brother Hayle Cannon is mentioned in the body of the text. His relationship will be keyed as brother.

Interview Month

Key the month in its three-letter abbreviation from the interview date using the dictionary provided to assist you. If the month appears as a number, key as seen. Interview date may be found next to the words "This report made on (date)" or often in the header of an image near the name of the interviewer/field worker. Copy this date to all individuals that appear on the image.

Interview Day

Key the day from the interview date as seen on the record. Interview date may be found next to the words "This report made on (date)" or often in the header of an image near the name of the interviewer/field worker. Copy this date to all individuals that appear on the image.

Interview Year

Key the year from the interview date as seen on the record. Interview date may be found next to the words "This report made on (date)" or often in the header of an image near the name of the interviewer/field worker. Copy this date to all individuals that appear on the image.

Residence City

Key the residence city as seen on the record using the dictionary provided for assistance. Residence city may be found next to the words "Post Office Address". Do not key "Oklahoma" into this field. If there are multiple geographical locations, separate with a comma.

If another state is listed on the image other than Oklahoma, key the state along with the city separated by a comma into this field. Ex: Coventry, Rhode Island

Birth Month

Key the month in its three-letter abbreviation from the birth date using the dictionary provided to assist you. If the month appears as a number, key as seen. Birth date may be found next to the words "Born", "Date of Birth:" or by key words in the body of the text such as "I was born on".

Birth Day

Key the day from the birth date as seen on the record. Birth date may be found next to the words "Born", "Date of Birth:" or by key words in the body of the text such as "I was born on".

Birth Year

Key the year from the birth date as seen on the record. Birth date may be found next to the words "Born", "Date of Birth:" or by key words in the body of the text such as "I was born on".

Birth Place

Key the birth place as seen on the record using the dictionary provided for assistance. Separate any geographical locations with a comma. Ex: Grayson, Texas. Birth place may be found next to the words "Born", "Place of Birth" or in the body of the text such as "I was born". Do not key the word "County."

Keying Image Samples

Keying example

Subsequent Interview Page

Choose the "Subsequent Interview Page" form type for all addition pages in an interview "packet".

Given

Key the first name or initial and any middle names of the primary person as seen on the record using the dictionary provided for assistance. Initials should be keyed with a space between them and without entering periods. Prefixes (Mrs., Dr., etc) should not be keyed. Married women's maiden names do not go in this field.

The name of the person being interviewed may be found next to the words "Interview with", "Biography of", "Legend/Story by", "Name" or in the first or second paragraph of the interview.

Other names, including those of family members may be found in the body of the text. We are only keying the names of family members. Do not key the names of interviewers/field workers.

Surname

Key the surname as seen on the record using the dictionary provided for assistance.

The name of the person being interviewed may be found next to the words "Interview with", "Biography of", "Legend/Story by", "Name" or in the first or second paragraph of the interview.

Other names, including those of family members may be found in the body of the text. We are only keying the names of family members. Do not key the names of interviewers/field workers.

Relationship

Key the relationship to the person being interviewed as seen on the record using the dictionary provided for assistance.

Relationship is being keyed to help identify family relationships. Indicators such as "My father", "My daughter", "I was married to" will help identify which relationship to key.

NOTE: Do not key a relationship for the person or persons being interviewed. Only key relationship for relations to the person being interviewed. Ex: Sean Cannon is being interviewed and will have NO relationship keyed. His brother Hayle Cannon is mentioned in the body of the text. His relationship will be keyed as brother.

Residence City

Key the residence city as seen on the record using the dictionary provided for assistance. If there are multiple geographical locations, separate with a comma.

If another state is listed on the image other than Oklahoma, key the state along with the city separated by a comma into this field. Ex: Coventry, Rhode Island

Birth Month

Key the month in its three-letter abbreviation from the birth date using the dictionary provided to assist you. If the month appears as a number, key as seen. Birth date may be found next to the words "Born", "Date of Birth:" or by key words in the body of the text such as "I was born on".

Birth Day

Key the day from the birth date as seen on the record. Birth date may be found next to the words "Born", "Date of Birth:" or by key words in the body of the text such as "I was born on".

Birth Year

Key the year from the birth date as seen on the record. Birth date may be found next to the words "Born", "Date of Birth:" or by key words in the body of the text such as "I was born on".

Birth Place

Key the birth place as seen on the record using the dictionary provided for assistance. Separate any geographical locations with a comma. Ex: Grayson, Texas. Birth place may be found next to the words "Born", "Place of Birth" or in the body of the text such as "I was born".

Keying Image Samples

Burial Page

Choose the "Burial Page" form type for images with "Burial Ground Form" at the top in bold all capital letters. This will be the first page in a "packet".

Cemetery

Key the cemetery name as seen on the record. Cemetery may be found on the line that says "Name (if any) of burial ground". Do not key the "Burial Place" into this field which is also on this line. Cemetery will usually be before the burial place and will often end in the word cemetery. Ex: Fairview Cemetery.

Burial Place

Key the burial place as seen on the record using the dictionary provided for assistance. Separate any geographical locations with a comma. Ex: Vinita, Craig, Oklahoma.

Burial place may be found on the line that says "Name (if any) of burial ground". Burial place will usually follow the cemetery. Do not key the "Cemetery" into this field.

Keying Image Sample

Subsequent Burial Page

Choose the "Subsequent Burial Page" form type for all addition pages in a burial "packet".

Additional Image Samples

Given

Key the first name or initial and any middle names of the primary person as seen on the record using the dictionary provided for assistance. Initials should be keyed with a space between them and without entering periods.

Name may be found at the beginning of a burial stone transcription, or within the body of the text.

Sometimes a field worker included additional information about a stone, often labeled as "Field worker's note". If the note contains relations to an individual listed on a stone, key the individual and their relation. An example is provided in the wiki image samples.

Surname

Key the surname as seen on the record using the dictionary provided for assistance. Name may be found at the beginning of a burial stone transcription, or within the body of the text.

Sometimes a field worker included additional information about a stone, often labeled as "Field worker's note". If the note contains relations to an individual listed on a stone, key the individual and their relation. An example is provided in the wiki image samples.

Relationship

Key the relationship to the person buried as seen on the record using the dictionary provided for assistance.

Use indicators such as "Son of" to help identify which relationship to key.

Birth Month

Key the month in its three-letter abbreviation from the birth date using the dictionary provided to assist you. If the month appears as a number, key as seen.

Birth Day

Key the day from the birth date as seen on the record.

Birth Year

Key the year from the birth date as seen on the record.

Birth Place

Key the birth place as seen on the record using the dictionary provided for assistance. Separate any geographical locations with a comma. Ex: Grayson, Texas

Death Month

Key the month in its three-letter abbreviation from the death date using the dictionary provided to assist you. If the month appears as a number, key as seen.

Death Day

Key the day from the death date as seen on the record.

Death Year

Key the year from the death date as seen on the record.

Age at Death

Key the age as seen at the time the record was recorded using the dictionary provided for assistance. If present, age may be found next to the word "Age" or "Aged" and should be a number between 1 and 120.

Keying Image Samples

Cover page, Section header, etc

Cover page, Section header, etc” type for images that don’t contain any data, but might be interesting to look at because they provide some type of context for the image set. For instance, historical notes, affidavits, and so forth.

Additional Image Samples

Image with no data

Use the “Image with no data” type for images that do not contain any data or any useful context that might be interesting for someone to look at. For instance, an image containing only a blank background.